2014 NPD Ford and Mustang Round-Up - Silver Springs, FL

National Parts Depot’s Ford and Mustang Round-Up at Silver Springs in Florida is the first show of the season.

Michael JohnsonAssociate Editor

February 10, 2014

National Parts Depot’s Ford and Mustang Round-Up at Silver Springs in Florida is the first show of the season. With everyone eager to start the season, there is always a ton of Mustangs to see during the show. Unfortunately, there isn’t always room for all the cool Mustangs to make it into the magazine. However, having a website helps us give everyone their 15 minutes of fame.

Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith’s ’04 Competition Orange Cobra has been in the magazine a couple times via a tech story, and by winning the 2013 Stick Shift Shootout at the NMRA Bradenton opener. Tremec’s Jim Averill dubbed Jeff’s Cobra the “quickest stick-shift car in the world,” winning a Tremec Magnum six-speed transmission in the process. Modification highlights include a VMP Tuning TVS supercharger, a JLT Performance high-boost intake, a McLeod RXT clutch, Injector Dynamics ID1000 fuel injectors, a UPR Products X-shape crossover pipe, a Magnaflow after-cat exhaust, and of course, a Tremec Magnum six-speed transmission. Jeff’s Cobra still has the IRS, but it’s bolstered with Steeda Autosports differential bushings and differential cover brace. At the track, Jeff uses Weld RTS wheels to run deep into the 10s, with a best of 10.65 at 134 mph.

Tony Dowell

They all can’t be pretty. Tony Dowell from New Port Richey, Florida, brought his weathered but ready ’88 LX to NPD’s round-up. The paint more resembles a natural suede color these days, instead of its original light gray (Smoke) hue, but the original 10-holes are still holding up quite well. Likewise, the LX’s seats look like the originals, and Tony’s car utilizes an AOD transmission to get it down the road.

Hector Navarro

Central Florida Motorsports’ (CFM) Hector Navarro has always been a champion of the underdog platform. Starting back when the SVT Focus came out, CFM championed the cause to offer performance parts for Ford’s pocket rocket. When the new V-6 option came available for the ’11 Mustang, Hector once again thought there would be an audience he could develop. Therefore, he has put great effort into his ’11 Mustang 3.7L automatic. The turbo kit you see here is a CFM-branded system the company hopes to release in late 2014. With the car’s stock engine, the single-turbo-motivated V-6 has been deep into the 10s. At NPD’s Ford and Mustang Round-Up, the rolling business card played host to … well, business cards, as you can see. We’ve never seen a more ingenious use of a K&N filter.

Stephen Jakubowski

Lamotta Performance knows a thing or two about Coyote swaps. Owner Jake Lamotta performed the Coyote swap on our ’94 Cobra back in early 2011—one of the first Coyote swaps ever completed. As such, Jake had to figure out what worked and what didn’t, and it appears he used what he learned on Stephen Jakubowski’s ’01 GT. The Coyote engine in Stephen’s New Edge is a low-compression Roush unit with a Tremec Magnum six-speed in the tunnel, a combination Stephen told us is good for 375 rwhp, which is way more than a N/A Two-Valve. Having owned a Coyote-swap, we could identify with Stephen’s exuberance over his swapped New Edge.

Paul and Becky Ward

The factory paint scheme on Paul and Becky Ward’s ’12 Boss 302 Laguna Seca is one that is either loved or hated. We’re not sure how a Mustang enthusiast can hate another Mustang, but they’re out there. As for this Mustang enthusiast, they don’t come much sharper than an Ingot Silver metallic Laguna Seca with red appointments. The Ward’s Laguna Seca has been fitted with several color-matched engine mods, an Optima battery, and Nitto Invo treads.

Jon Larson

If you want to make big power right out of the box and your wallet’s accommodating, the ’13 Shelby GT500 is the Mustang for you. Orlando, Florida’s Jon Larson is one such lucky owner, but he wasn’t happy with the factory 662 horsepower. His Shelby features a JLT Performance carbon-fiber intake, among other performance mods, with the work paying off to the tune of 677 rwhp on Lamotta Performance’s Dynojet. Jon is part of the Untouchable Mustangs of Central Florida.

Anthony Vallancourt

No one on 5.0’s staff has owned a ’03-’04 Cobra, and we’re all jealous of those who do own one of these bad boys. One such person is Newberry, Florida’s Anthony Vallancourt. Like many Terminator owners, Anthony ditched the factory Eaton, but not in favor of another supercharger. He ditched it in favor of a single-turbo kit, complete with a ‘99/’01 Cobra intake. The Cobra also features CCW wheels with painted centers to match the exterior’s Dark Shadow gray.

Terry Molin

We’re a regular in the Plant City, Florida area, but we’d never seen Terry Molin’s ’03 Cobra before the NPD Ford and Mustang Round-Up. Terry’s Cobra appears to have spent quality time at Coastal Chassis Dyno, a shop we could almost hit with a rock from our office in Tampa, Florida. With a big single-turbo and perhaps a sprinkle of Wilson Pro-Flow nitrous, we trust Terry’s Cobra is down for the get down when duty calls, but the Cobra also does work on the show field as well, with just about every engine component polished to a brilliant finish.

Max Pieschke

It’s our job to be a fan of contrasting colors, and Max Pieschke’s ’11 GT hits all the right optics. The Grabber Blue over what appears to be matte-gold RTR wheels offers the perfect amount of color contrast, but with a On3 Performance twin-turbo kit, there will probably be a stark contrast between the performance of your Mustang compared to Max’s. On3 Performance’s twin kit is designed for both automatic and manual transmission-equipped ’11-’14 Mustang GTs, and retains all factory accessories. Standard kits feature twin 60mm, ceramic, ball-bearing turbos, but 67mm turbos are available, as are CNC billet compressor wheels.

Scott and Dawn Waszak

If you’ve been a Mustang fan since the Fox days, you no doubt remember the slogan, “Takes one to catch one,” and the shirt originated by Dale Mathis and made famous by John Bleakley Ford. Everyone who was anyone back in the day had that shirt. You didn’t leave a Mustang drag event without one. Even though the trooper car on the shirt was a Georgia State Patrol SSP Mustang, Scott and Dawn Waszak’s ’93 FHP car reminded us of the slogan and t-shirt long since gone. The car also looks ready to chase down some bad guys.

Duane Illingworth

To make our job easier, Duane Illingworth from Jacksonville, Florida, had a mod list under the hood of his ’03 Cobra. The mod list includes Motoblue supercharger and idler pulleys, a C&L Performance air induction system, an Accufab throttle body and plenum, a Bassani Xhaust X-shape crossover pipe and after-cat exhaust, Centerforce clutch with a Fidanza aluminum flywheel, a Pro-5.0 shifter, a UPR Products clutch quadrant and firewall adjuster, and a Speed of Sound A-pillar pod filled with Auto Meter Lunar-series gauges. Along with basically everything else under the hood, the Cobra features polished Ford Racing coil covers and oil cap to go along with the Canton Racing polished power-steering reservoir and coolant expansion tank, and an LFP Super tank polished intercooler reservoir. Duane is a member of the First Coast Modified Mustangs club based out of Jacksonville, Florida.

Tom Wells

Perhaps the wildest late-model vehicle even close to fitting into this magazine, Tom Wells’ ’81 Mercury Zephyr wagon boasted of having a 557ci big-block under the hood, with Edelbrock heads, an MSD ignition, an Accusump system, Bullitt brakes and wheels, and much more. The interior is largely stock, but with harnesses to make sure the car occupants stay firmly planted in the stock bench seat.

Edward Morero

From San Antonio, Florida—not Texas—Edward Morero had more than one Mustang at NPD’s Ford and Mustang Round-Up. Edward brought an early Mustang, a ’92 SSP coupe, and this ’93 Cobra. All cars were in excellent shape, but this Teal Cobra is probably the prized possession of the bunch, with just 24,000 miles on the clock.